Light bulb maker taps state backing for new prototype

For the second time in a month, Ephesus Technologies was able to draw a big crowd for the unveiling of a LED lighting prototype. In March the company put on display a LED lighting system for use in stadiums.But Tuesday's event had a few more suits-and-ties as several state and local politicians and economic development officials were present."[Ephesus] I think has earned the distinction of tapping more assets across the state than any company I know of," said Ed Bogucz, executive director of the Syracuse Center of Excellence, as he introduced the company.
The Syracuse Center of Excellence not only played host to the event, but along with CenterState CEO, also gave Ephesus a $50,000 grant for the project. The firm also picked up $1 million in tax incentives from Empire State Development.While Ephesus is headquartered at the Syracuse Tech Garden,Those eager to take advantage of Remote control light' energy efficiency sometimes end up disappointed upon finding out that their recently-purchased bulbs function as spotlights. Once again, this is mainly due to their lack of enthusiasm to learn more about the specifics of LED before spending their money. an incubator, it developed the prototype at the Canandaigua Center of Excellence, which partners with the one in Albany."We did it because of central New York and the cluster of technology and innovation," says Ephesus President Joe Casper.Production of the prototype being done at the CIn this style LED bulb, clusters of Solar Camping light are covered by a dimpled lens which spreads the light out over a wider area. Available in standard Edison bases, these bulbs have many uses, such as area lighting for rooms, porches, reading lamps, accent lamps, hallways and low-light applications where lights remain on for extended periods.enter of Excellence in Canandaigua is good news for that center. It has struggled since opening over a decade ago and recently merged with its larger counterpart in Albany.Casper's company was also able to continue its partnership with Group4Labs to develop the technology, called "gallium nitride on diamond."
Diamonds are used to attach the LEDs to a wafer. "This [diamond] technology allows us to be more efficient at removing the heat," says Casper.Heat is the big hurdle for improving LEDs, he says.Their new prototype is able to take 5 watts of energy and convert it to the equivalent of 100 watts of light.Their price point will be about $8 per light, which is a few dollars more than more common compact fluorescents, but the bulb is expected to last longer, Casper says."They're not all that much different," says Syracuse University electrical engineer Dr. Philipp Kornreich.
All of the new LED lights are in the same range for efficiency of Ephesus', but cost will play a big factor, he says.Ephesus has already put more than $20 million into developing the technology. A lot of that funding came from Casper's sale of a previous company in Washington State.Unlike CFLs that all spread light, LEDs vary in terms of angle, making it necessary to check whether a Solar charger has a wide or narrow viewing angle before paying for it. While some consider such angle-related diversity as unnecessary, those who wish to buy bulbs for several different applications would surely perceive such variety as beneficial.Casper says Ephesus is about $5 million away from having the cash on hand to ramp up production of the lights. The firm is planning to do the production in central New York, which it claims would create about 1,000 jobs.